


Pop 101

by fernitron007



Series: Trench Inspired. [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Corny, F/M, Fifth Year, Fluff, Gardenias, Hogwarts, How to charm a witch, Marianas Trench - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2015-08-29
Packaged: 2018-04-17 01:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4647897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fernitron007/pseuds/fernitron007
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Georgie, you know I could sweep her off her feet in no time, but she’s Ronnie’s friend, I wouldn't do that to him” he said, trying to convince his brother once again, but to no avail. George only raised an eyebrow and smiled.</p><p>“You couldn’t sweep her off her feet, she’s not the sweeping kind. She’d see right through you anyway.”  He looked through the window giving his twin time to react, he knew he had hit a nerve.</p><p>“I bloody well could if I wanted to!” said Fred, his cheeks starting to resemble the colour of his hair.</p><p>“Well prove it! I bet you five Galleons you can’t do it.”</p><p>“Fine.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! Here is yet another Marianas Trench inspired fic! I've been wanting to post it for a while, so I got most of it done and I'll post the rest when it's finished. It's obviously inspired by "Pop 101", if you listen to it, you'll get why the song led me to this scenario. Hope you guys like it, comments and suggestions are welcome! Enjoy! :D
> 
> "Pop music 101  
> Some simple instructions, for a good first impression  
> Now lets start with verse one  
> A minor chord tensions grow, fade in the bass like so  
> Now with momentum go  
> Stop  
> And bring the beat back"

“Oh, come on, Fred!” said George, hitting him in the head with a book. “Pay attention!”

They were in the Common Room with a few books each, trying to figure out how to counteract the side effects of the Fever Fudge. Fred had given himself a short break and was now openly staring at a girl sitting in an armchair by the fireplace.

“Sorry, Georgie. Got distracted” said the twin, and buried himself behind a book just as the witch left her spot and went out the portrait hole.

At the beginning, George had openly mocked his brother about looking at her a little too long or smiling a little too much when she was around (not in front of her, of course, they were brothers after all), but he had stopped when Fred started talking to him about her. Nothing obvious, little things: “I think she might like this book…”, “She probably knows how to do this…”, “Let’s ask her about it…” He knew his brother fancied the witch, but didn’t understand why he wouldn’t do anything about it.

“Get a grip, Fred. Why don’t you ask her out and stop moping around?” he asked for the umpteenth time.

“I do not _mope_!” said Fred, looking very much like a person who was moping.

“Come on, Freddie, you have the Weasley charm! I know I’m better looking than you are, but she’ll just have to live with that.”

Fred laughed and went back to his normal demeanor, “Georgie, you know I could sweep her off her feet in no time, but she’s Ronnie’s friend, I wouldn't do that to him” he said, trying to convince his brother once again, but to no avail. George only raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“You couldn’t sweep her off her feet, she’s not the sweeping kind. She’d see right through you anyway.”  He looked through the window giving his twin time to react, he knew he had hit a nerve.

“I bloody well could if I wanted to!” said Fred, his cheeks starting to resemble the colour of his hair.

“Well prove it! I bet you five Galleons you can’t do it.”

“Fine.” The angry redhead took his pile of books and stomped out of the Common Room. George smiled, he had lost five Galleons, but at least Fred would be happy.

* * *

 

Fred walked into the library looking for an empty table to sit at so he could distract himself with the Fever Fudge problem. He was flicking through _Magical Drafts and Potions_ when he heard her talking to Madam Pince.

“But I need them. I’ve got a Moonstone essay for Professor Snape, a Giant Wars essay for Professor Binns, translations for Professor Babbling and I need to catch up on Transfiguration theory!”

He peeked at her from behind his book and smiled.

“I have told you many times, Miss Granger, students are not allowed to take more than four books at a time. You may work here and leave when you are done using the extra books.” Madam Pince eyed her severely. Hermione looked appalled, but took the pile of books and sat a few tables away. She took out a roll of parchment, ink, a quill and started flipping pages furiously, her eyes not leaving the book.

This was his chance. It was hard enough to be without George or Lee Jordan; but when he was alone, she was with Harry and Ron.

“ _It’s just another girl",_ he thought, over and over, like a mantra. _Just give her the old Weasley charm, it shouldn’t be that difficult_. Oh, but he knew it would. Hermione wasn’t like any other witch, but he couldn’t let George win the bet and see his smug face as he took his money. No. He would charm Hermione Granger.

He packed his belongings, took a deep breath and headed towards her table. “Hey, Granger.” He managed a smirk.

“Oh, hey, Fred,”. She gave him a curt nod and went back to her book. He lingered, trying to think of what to say.

“So, what brings you around this fine evening?” He gave her his most gallant smile.

“Fred, I’m so sorry, but I have to get this done, you don’t mind, do you?” She sounded exasperated and didn’t even look back at him. He frowned a bit and managed to mumble that it was okay and that he was sorry for bothering her. He left the witch alone muttering under her breath and left the library as quick as he could, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and disgust. That had gone horribly.

The next morning he had a plan. He knew George didn’t mean he had to “sweep” Hermione off her feet the instant they made the bet, he knew he had time, but now that he had put his mind to it, he wanted to do it as soon as possible. So he had thought a plan through the night before and hadn’t been able to sleep imagining her face after he put it in motion.

It was a lazy Saturday morning, so he got up unusually early, dressed in silence and headed towards the Owlery. He borrowed a school owl and instructed it as he wrote a note on a piece of parchment.

“Look, I know this is something weird to do, but this girl is here in the castle, come into the Great Hall with the rest of the owls, okay?” The owl hooted happily and stretched out its leg. He conjured a bouquet of white Gardenias and secured the note. He was happy he had read a few books from the Muggle Section of the library when he was bored, he knew Hermione would appreciate it. It was corny, but he would get her to fall for him in the corny way.

 

* * *

 

Hermione was eating porridge and reading the Prophet that had just arrived while Harry and Ron were planning the rest of their class free day. She put her Prophet down and eyed them. “You know you have to catch up with your homework and practice banishing charms, right?”

“Oh, come off it, Hermione. We’ll do it later. Let us have a free moment, please?” said Ron, taking a bite of bacon. “The day is great, we’re not going to ruin it with homework, right Harry?”

Harry knew he should encourage Ron to do at least a little bit of work, they were behind, after all. “Er, we could practice banishing charms outside?”

Hermione beamed at him and nodded. Ron just shrugged and kept eating his breakfast.

The last wave of owls flew around the four tables, and out of nowhere, a school owl dropped in front of Hermione with a bouquet of white Gardenias. Hermione went red in the face and started looking around the table, maybe the owl was meant for someone else. Harry and Ron were just staring at her, speechless. Lavender and Parvati were sitting close to them and had erupted into a fit of giggles, a few younger girls were looking at Hermione admirably, Neville was smiling at her and Seamus hooted happily. Ron looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. When the owl stepped closer to Hermione and tried to nudge her, she took the bouquet and saw there has a little note attached to it, and that it was, indeed, addressed to her. She opened the note and read: _“I don’t believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now.” – F._

Her blush was becoming more pronounced as Fred and George entered the Great Hall bickering about the use of Essence of Murtlap. George instantly saw Hermione with the flowers and smiled at Fred, nudging him to look in her direction. “Hmm, looks like someone got there first, Freddie.” he mocked. Fred just grinned and hurried to sit down on the other end of the table, where she couldn’t see that he too, was turning scarlet.

* * *

 

They had been sitting under the beech tree for half an hour and nobody had mentioned the events that had taken place over breakfast. Hermione had been unknowingly biting her bottom lip in frustration as she read, not being able to take in more than a few sentences at a time because she kept glancing at the flowers beside her. She needed to talk with someone, but wasn’t sure the boys were up to it and didn’t feel like being teased.

“So, who do you reckon sent them?” asked Ron, breaking the uncomfortable silence ten minutes later. “What? We can’t talk about it?”

Harry looked like he did not want to have this conversation with Ron around, but sighed and addressed Hermione instead. “What did the note say?”

Hermione handed it to him and looked for some sign of recognition in his face as he read it. “Hey, I’ve heard this somewhere…” Harry thought aloud, not being able to place where he had heard those words before. Ron had just seized the parchment from his hand and read it out loud. “ _I don’t believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now_. Sounds like a corny bloke.” He handed the note back to Hermione and she pocketed it.

“Hey, wait a minute, isn’t it a song?” asked Harry, trying to remember the tune.

“Yes! It’s an Oasis song. They’re really popular in the muggle world, but isn’t it odd for someone to owl the lyrics of a muggle song?”

“If you ask me, someone thought you might like it and went into an awful lot of trouble to make a good impression,” said Harry.

“Hermione’s got a secret admirer!” 

“What are those flowers? Why not send roses? Girls love roses, right?" Hermione blushed and tried not to smile. “But I’m guessing you have a theory, right?” Harry smiled and shook his head in amusement. Ron didn’t understand what they were talking about.

“Why would roses be special?”

“Well… In muggle culture, roses symbolize love in its various forms. These-" she said, picking up the white flowers “are Gardenias. Gardenias indicate secret love. They tell the receiver they are lovely.”

“Well, I guess it just means someone thinks you’re lovely.” Said Harry, trying to end the conversation. Ron took the hint and went back to trying to banish a pebble and Hermione tried to get back to reading her book.

She couldn’t blame the boys for not wanting to talk about it any further, but she appreciated the fact that they didn’t mock her. What if it was a joke? She’d placed revealing spells on the note and the flowers the second she realized they were for her, but they had come out clean. Who were they from? She mentally scorned herself for taking so much interest in the matter and instead returned to her schoolwork, something actually important.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, but what other clichés are there?” George asked his brother. Fred had confessed the flowers had been from him because he was tired of George’s teasing for getting to Hermione late.

“I honestly don’t know, I thought it would be fun for her to do it this way, but I can’t think of anything else.”

“Well, you could ask her out. Wouldn’t it be easier?”

“Nope. It has to be grand. Come on, Georgie! We’re chief troublemakers around here and we can’t come up with a way to tell a witch I fancy her? I think we may be losing our touch,” said Fred, hoping George would get on board with the sole purpose of defending his reputation.

“It looks like we’ll have to hit the library then, Freddie boy!" George patted his back pretty hard, but Fred didn’t want to complain and smiled instead, happy that his twin would help him in his endeavor. Merlin knew he needed help.

A few days later he had managed to swipe Hermione’s copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ from her bag while she wasn’t looking. Once he was alone, he magicked a gardenia out of thin air and attached a note to it's stem. He flicked through the pages and found the chapter devoted to Peeves and stifled a laugh, he had always admired the ways of the poltergeist, and had insisted him to refine his technique, to be subtle, but he had blown a raspberry his way and resumed singing through the corridors. He placed the flower between the pages, closed the book and accelerated the flowers drying process with a flick of his wand.

“Oi, kid” he called out to a second year that was climbing down from the dormitories and heading towards the portrait.

“Er, yes?”

“Where are you going?”

“To the library, why?”

“Would you please return this book to a 5th year prefect? You know Hermione Granger? Brown bushy hair, brown eyes, bossy? She’s in the library.”

The boy nodded in acknowledgement. “Yeah, sure.”

“Don’t tell her it came from me, though,” said Fred, with a wink.

“Yeah, no problem.”

* * *

 

“Er… Hermione?” asked a confused boy, no older than thirteen. Hermione smiled pleasantly at him and answered softly “Yes?”

“I have this book, someone told me it’s yours and that you would be here.” He hastily shoved the book in her hands and left quickly before Hermione could thank him.  _Hogwarts: A History_ , lay in front of her. She beamed at the book and opened it to relieve herself from Snape’s potions essay. Her cheeks instantly reddened when she found a single dry gardenia in between the pages.

“ _Hope you like it, it’s a good bookmark. –F”_

Her goofy smile turned into a smirk. _“…it’s a good bookmark.”_ The flower was marking a chapter on Peeves the poltergeist. Did this mean something? Did the person want to give her a clue, or was it just a coincidence? She was tired of thinking of this, of the flowers, of the song. She buried herself in her potions book, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to do much work, but deciding it was better than doing nothing.

The next couple of weeks went on in the same way. Some days she would get flowers over breakfast, find them in her belongings or get a smiling first or second year deliver them. Some had clever notes, others had cute messages, and the rest just had that one letter. F. The boys had stopped laughing at Hermione and just grinned at her whenever she stumbled upon a flower. They had actually given her a few themselves, swearing they didn’t know who they were from.

* * *

 

“Mate, when are you gonna tell her?” asked Harry one afternoon they were in the middle of exploding snap. “It’s not that hard, just hold your breath, spit it out and hope she says yes.”

Fred laughed, amused by the matter-of-a-fact tone that Harry had employed. “I suppose that’s what you did with Cho, right? Don’t worry, I will. But you’ll have to deliver it for me. Please?”  Harry eyed him as if weighing his plea and nodded, so Fred handed him a piece of parchment.

“Really, you’ve been trying to impress her for the last month and when your finally about to ask her out, you give her this rubbish?”

“Oh, shut up and give it to her, will you?”

“Okay, okay!”

“Bring the answer back to me.”

Harry smiled “Not gonna let George win those Galleons, are you?”


	2. II

Hermione had gotten up early (even more so than usual) on Saturday morning. She had lied in bed for a good fifteen minutes before deciding that she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again, so she got dressed and went down for an early breakfast. Her stomach flipped every time she thought about what was waiting for her in a few hours.

Honestly, she would’ve said no if the note had come by owl or happened to be in one of her textbooks. But Harry had smiled at her brightly and egged her on to it. “Come on, Mione! He’s a good bloke, just give him a chance.”

 “Harry Potter, you’ve been swearing you didn’t know who this person was.” 

“I lied, Mione.” Merlin, she should’ve just said no. Damn Harry and his Slytherin ways.

She had been taking sips of her pumpkin juice for what seemed like five minutes when Ron plopped down next to her and helped himself to bacon and eggs.

“Good morning, Hermione!” he said, rather cheerfully for a guy who doesn’t get out of bed until eleven.

“What’s gotten into you, Ronald?” she asked, rather suspiciously.

“Am I really that grumpy in the morning?” she just stared at him and stifled a laugh. “Well sorry about that. it’s just a really good day. Perfect weather, Hogsmeade weekend and all! Harry and I are gonna go flying and then we’ll meet up with you in The Three Broomsticks.” He must’ve seen her reaction because he added “Is that okay?”

She was about to say yes, but her nerves got there first. “I don’t really want to be alone with this guy, I don’t even know what his name is!” She blurted out in exasperation. “The notes were nice, the flowers were cute and everything, but what if I don’t like him? What if he doesn’t like me? What if I talk too much, he gets bored and leaves? I can’t leave him talking alone if he’s boring, it would be rude!”

Ron looked like she had just slapped him in the face. “Hermione, haven’t you talked to anyone about this? I thought you’d have talked this out with Ginny.”

She shook her head and looked at her plate. Ron felt it was his duty to calm her down and make her feel better, but he knew he could be thick when it came to feelings, so he tried to tread carefully and not make her more upset.

“Er, Hermione, listen,” she was surprised to hear him sound serious and looked up at him. “Harry said he was a good bloke, right?” she nodded. “I say he’s a good bloke too. He’s just a tad…” his eyebrows scrunched up as he thought of the proper word. “… theatrical. So don’t get nervous. Trust me, he’s more nervous than you are. And if you’re still worried, Harry and I will go with you to the Entrance Hall and we’ll leave only when you give us a thumbs up. Okay?”

Her stomach unclenched a little bit and she smiled warmly at him. “Thanks, Ron.”

“Don’t mention it.” He grinned and went back to stuffing himself with a good breakfast.

When she finished her breakfast she had gone back to Gryffindor Tower to get dressed, leaving Ron chatting with the twins. After her talk with Ron, she had decided to go simple and wear whatever she felt comfortable in. After little thought, she put on a pair of jeans, a tank top and a cardigan. She still had half an hour before she met up with the boys in the Common Room, so she curled up with her battered copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ and tried to submerge herself into the world of Elizabeth Bennet.

Half an hour later, Harry and Ron were practically dragging her towards the Entrance Hall, getting frustrated every time she stopped; eager to fetch their broomsticks, but not willing to leave her alone. They arrived at the Entrance Hall ten minutes later and Hermione tugged them towards a corner so she wouldn’t feel exposed.

Hermione’s heart was in a frenzied state when Fred Weasley quietly approached them. “Sir begs the lady to accompany me to the gates.” He said with a low bow and a wide grin. Hermione felt comfortable with Fred, so she nodded to the boys to leave (they could’ve been less happy about it, she thought). The twin took her arm in his and walked her to Hogsmeade.

“Is everyone in on this except me?” she asked, laughing and feeling a little bit embarrassed that the guy had sought out Fred to help him. Fred chuckled and squeezed her arm.

“He just wanted to make it special.” She smiled softly at him and looked at her feet, trying to conceal the hint of a blush that she felt on her cheeks.

She enjoyed the silence that fell between them. It was a calm type of silence, it made her feel better. She had never pegged Fred as the silent kind, he was a troublemaker, a prankster. But for some strange reason, he seemed different today. Maybe she hadn’t ever bothered noticing this Fred.

They reached the Entrance Gate and she looked around expectantly, not knowing what or who to look for. She was about to give up and go back to the castle when Fred casually slipped his hand into hers. She looked up at him with confusion written in her face. She waited for an explanation, but he beamed at her and made a bouquet of Gardenias appear from thin air and handed her the bouquet with a shy smile.

Hermione was dumbstruck, it must’ve shown on her face.

“Are you really that surprised? I thought maybe you figured it out after the flower in the chapter on Peeves.”

She smiled and felt a bit more at ease. “I thought it might be you after that, but then I thought it was just silly for me to think that you would go so out of your way to make a girl smile.”

He grinned. “You’re right. I wouldn’t. Unless it was you.” His cheeks were almost as red as his hair but he didn’t stop looking at her, pleading her to believe him. Her hand was still in his, she squeezed it to comfort him and everything felt right. He must have felt the same, because the tension and the uncertainty that were almost palpable a few seconds ago suddenly disappeared.

“So, where should we go?” He squeezed her hand back and led her into Hogsmeade, leaving her question unanswered and a content smile on both their faces.

* * *

 

“Do you think they forgot?” asked Ron, drinking from his Butterbeer.

“Maybe she got angry, dumped him and’s back at the castle reading.” Harry shrugged, looking at the door, waiting for their friends to come in.

They had been at The Three Broomsticks for half an hour waiting for Hermione and Fred before ordering their drinks, but Ron had said Hermione probably wouldn’t mind. She was the one who was late anyway. They came through the door ten minutes later, hand in hand and red in the face. Harry nudged Ron to look in their direction and Ron muffed a laugh. They made their way through the crowd towards them.

“Good day, I see?” asked Ron, jokingly.

“I don’t see why it’s any of your business, Ronnie.”

Hermione poked him in the ribs playfully. “Be nice.”

“Oh, so you’re an old married couple now!” laughed Harry. Hermione went scarlet and looked at him as though she was going to put him in detention, but Fred looked at ease and just chuckled.

“Not yet, but I promise you can be the Maid of Honor.” Harry looked slightly taken aback, but Ron was roaring with laughter.

Hermione plopped down next to Ron and Fred went to get them drinks. Ron nudged her playfully with a wide grin on his face. “Everything okay?”

She smiled shyly “Yeah, everything’s okay.”

“See? No reason to be nervous. We told you he was a good bloke!” said Harry, and clinked his glass with Ron’s in victory.

Fred came back with their drinks, but as soon as he sat down next to Hermione, the boys went into ‘Big Brother’ mode. “You’re going to take good care of Hermione.” said Ron, looking absolutely serious.

“Excuse me, Ronald. I can take perfect care of myself.” she snapped. Harry looked at Ron and shrugged.

“She’s right, you know. This-“ he said, gesturing towards themselves and Fred “- really doesn’t have a point."

“That’s true. She’d jinx me in a heartbeat.” said Fred, wiggling his eyebrows at Hermione, making her laugh.

“But honestly, I’ll be fine.” She knew they were only concerned for her well-being, even if it was a little bit irritating. She smiled sincerely at them “Really.”

“Of course she will!” agreed Fred, kissing her cheek.

She went more scarlet, if that’s even possible and wondered if she could maybe melt of embarrassment, but the boys didn’t even notice and chatted away about Quidditch. Fred’s hand discretely slipped into hers beneath the table while he talked about the Chudley Cannons and the Ballycastle Bats to an incomprehensible Ron and an amused Harry.

* * *

 

“Thanks for not running off once you saw me with the bouquet.” Joked Fred as they made their way through the castle towards Gryffindor Tower. “I thought you were about to faint.” She chuckled and smacked his arm playfully.

“Thanks for today, I had a really good time,” she said, trying to hide the permanent blush in her cheeks by looking at her feet. Fred mumbled the password once they arrived at the Gryffindor Common Room. She was about to go to bed, anxious to just lie in bed thinking about everything that had happened but he had taken her gently by the wrist and pulled her towards him. She could feel his rapid heartbeat against her chest, his lips were centimeters from hers but he lingered there, waiting for her permission. When she didn’t move away, he kissed her tenderly, slowly. Her head was spinning and everything felt out of focus except for him, his warm body against hers, his firm hands on her waist and his sweet lips that still tasted of Butterbeer and chocolate.

He pulled away gently and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, Hermione.” He whispered.

She watched him climb up the stairs to the boy’s dormitory where she was sure George was waiting for him. She stood there, in the middle of the Common Room, dazed, watching the fire dance in the fireplace. She touched her lips with the tip of her fingers and smiled, feeling giddy and warm.

That night she climbed into bed still wanting to think about her day, but as soon as her head touched the pillow she drifted off, dreaming of red hair, warm fingers and the taste of chocolate.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! I hope you've enjoyed it as much as i enjoyed writing it!! The next fic will be much more angsty than the fluff i've been writing. I've already got someone who wants to collaborate and picked out the song (If you want to hear it, it's September, by Marianas Trench), so if you want to check it out, I'll be posting it as soon as I can:)  
> Again, thanks for reading!


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